The EU now plans to investigate the tech giant's recent policy changes and how they may affect the privacy of its users. The policy changes were in regards to Microsoft's Internet services like Bing and Hotmail.

According to EU privacy regulators, Microsoft's Internet products will be formally reviewed to make sure that the policy changes meet European standards and allow users a choice of different services.

The EU wrote a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Microsoft Luxembourg letting the company know about the upcoming review:

“Given the wide range of services you offer, and popularity of these services, changes in your Services Agreement and the linked Privacy Policy may affect many individuals in most or all of the EU member states,” wrote Jacob Kohnstamm, who leads the association of EU data protection commissioners.

Microsoft made the policy changes on October 19.

The EU has been after Microsoft for years now, and for various reasons. It started in March 2004 when a European Commission high court found the company guilty ofusing tactics to freeze out its competitors in the media player and server software markets. It was fined $690 million.

Back in 2008, the EU fined Microsoft $1.4 billion for refusing to comply during its legal feud with the EU between July 2006 and October 2007. Microsoft was charged $3.83 million a day for each day of non-compliance.

Jumping ahead one year to 2009, the EU went after Microsoft again fortying Internet Explorer to Windows, and by doing so, Microsoft is "stealing" a unique and unfair advantage.